UEFA Champions League Matchday 1 Reviewed: Zzzzzz…

When defending champions FC Barcelona finished their match against Levski Sofia of Bulgaria Tuesday September 12, the scoreline read 5-0 in favor of the home side. Though Barca sported the word unicef on their blue and red striped home kits in the Noucamp, the logo of the humanitarian arm of the United Nations did little to help the visitors. The game was over early and put away by the 59th minute at 4-0. Ronaldinho really put the exclamation on the day with a 93rd minute goal.

And so the scoreboards read across Europe, with little fanfare: 2-0, 4-0 two times and 1-0. In the only game in which there actually was a game, Sporting Lisbon stunned Inter Milan 1-0. There were also two scoreless draws, which is like kissing your mother on the lips.

The former Eastern bloc clubs continued to get pummeled on the day, with both Spartak Moscow and Shakhtar Donetsk going down hard on 4-0 counts, Spartak to Bayern Munich and Shakhtar to AS Roma.

English power Chelsea FC had some trouble with Werder Bremen before winning 2-0, though Michael Essien's 24th minute goal clinched the three points for the Blues. They got some help in minute 68 on a penalty kick from Michael Ballack.

In a more competitive match, Valencia CF of Spain got past Greek club Olympiakos 4-2 in a game that was knotted 2-2 until Raul Albiol connected off a corner kick in minute 85. Fernando Morientes, the former Liverpool striker, finished off his hat trick in the 90th minute to seal the deal for the Spaniards.

And in two defensive struggles, Turkish club Galatasaray showed it could handle Bordeaux and Dutch power PSV Eindhoven outplayed Liverpool, though both games ended in scoreless draws.

If anything, Tuesday's portion of Matchday 1 proved nothing at all, except that the powers that be are still in charge and clubs from the former Eastern Bloc still have some ways to go.

On Wednesday, however, there were a few more surprises, though the favorites still basically had their way. Steaua Bucharest came out in digs similar to Barcelona, the red and blue stripes, and the outcome on Matchday 1 was nearly identical. After posting a 4-1 win at Dynamo Kiev, Steaua is the team to watch in Champions League after the first day. The most astonishing part to the match is that the Romanian club scored all four of its goals before halftime.

Olympique Lyonnais also outgunned Real Madrid 2-0, but it's obvious Real is still finding its way under new coach Fabio Capello. And Champions League newcomer Hamburg had a tough run against Arsenal but still managed to get a late-minute goal at home and lose 2-1. Czech international Tomas Rosicky had what would prove to be the game-winner in minute 53 of the match for the Gunners.

Though most of the games on Wednesday were more entertaining, the game of the day pitted two teams who had never faced one another in European competition in Manchester United and Celtic. The Red Devils came out on top at home in Old Trafford, but the game was hardly in hand throughout.

Celtic kicked off the historic match with a 21st minute slot to the far post off of a long goal kick, but Man U pulled even on a controversial penalty kick after Ryan Giggs claimed to have been pulled down in the box by Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc. The TV replays clearly showed some acting on the part of Giggs, but the kick stood and the match was level at 30 minutes. Louis Saha followed up his penalty kick with a cracker of a shot in minute 40 to make it 2-1, but as was the theme of the day, the Scottish club was not done. Shunsuke Nakamura bent a free kick around the Red Devil wall and into side netting in minute 40 to tie it at 2-2.

Then right out of halftime Manchester United got what would be the winner from an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rebounding off of a Saha blast, slotted into the net for a 3-2 victory. AC Milan cruised to an easy victory 3-0, with two goals in the first 41 minutes of the match.

In less entertaining matches both FC Copenhagen and Benfica and FC Porto and CSKA Moscow had scoreless draws and Belgian club Anderlecht tied Lille 1-1. Matchday 2 begins September 26 and 27.